A winner is Clock Genius

As I reported on The Mega Man Network, the winner of CoroCoro’s boss character contest was revealed to be Clock Genius on 2chan (not exactly the most reputable source, but the image and peoples’ reactions to it seem genuine). Supposedly, the next Rockman game that this character will appear in is still undecided. Undecided? As in Capcom’s not even working on it yet? I find that a bit hard to believe.

Granted, this contest is unlike one held in CoroCoro before. Typically the contest would be announced in May or Junrun for a month, and then the winner would be announced in November. This is how it went for EXE 2 through 6, and Ryuusei 2 through 3. Thus it was easy to predict what game Capcom was likely working on (their penchant for sequels aside). And yet this contest was ran from January to February, and gave no clear distinction on what kind of Rockman game is in the works. Regardless, the winner is pretty Ryuusei themed. It follows the same naming convention as the Ryuusei bosses, and Horologium is a clock constellation. So if this is going to be Ryuusei 4, why didn’t Capcom just run things like normal, and get peoples’ hopes up that a new Rockman series could be in the works?

The only explanation I can think of is that Ryuusei 4 isn’t a done deal. The sales for each installment have done worse than the last, though apparently they’ve met Capcom’s expectations anyway. Meanwhile, numerous Rockman fans have called for the end of the series, but there are still those who love it all the same. Therefore, I suppose it’s possible Capcom has started pre-production for Ryuusei 4 without knowing if they’ll finish it or move onto something else. If that’s really the case I wouldn’t be too surprised if Capcom is working on something like Mega Man 10 in the meantime just to quelm the fans.

I’m a little torn about the prospect of Ryuusei 4 myself. The series isn’t one of my favorite, but Ryuusei 3 gave me some hope. It was a very well done game, and had a pretty gripping albeit still somewhat generic story (though not as generic as Ryuusei 2). And yet I have a hard time believing a followup to 3 can be as good. 3 tied up just about everything, and had a real climactic feel. In 4, they’d have to invent all new dilemmas and mysteries, and that “starting fresh” mentality can hurt a title.

It is also possible they’re making major revisions to Ryuusei 4, or even still doing another spinoff but want to keep it connected to Ryuusei somehow. It’s hard to say. Capcom has a habit of getting predictable, and when they go against their predictability they get, well… hard to predict. I think Mega Man 9 is a good sign Capcom is trying to break away and find something fresher to run with. This same pattern occured in the late 90s, so it’s not hard to believe it’s happening again.

It’s both exciting and at the same time frustrating.